Furnishing Observations
by DinerGuy
Summary: There is so much that, if it were known, would resolve the anger and disappointment running through this team right now. But instead, everyone is at odds and I'm left holding what pieces I have and hoping that things will be back to normal soon enough - even though I know that can never be.


_I think I'm on a Castle kick right now. But who could help not being? Not with that ending. I was talking with my sister, who also watches, and we were talking about the characters and their personalities and before I knew it, this story idea was born._

_Big thanks to my lovely Kkarrie for reading it over and pointing out a few things for me. Hope you enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be, and I'm not pretending it is._

**wmwmw**

Richard Castle and Kate Beckett. What a story those two have. And trust me, I know. I've been around the twelfth precinct for years and I'm not going anywhere fast; I think I know a thing or two about what goes on here. The stories I could tell could fill an entire library. You know Detective Javier Esposito and Lanie Parish, the M.E.? Oh those kids...

But I'm getting sidetracked. Where was I? Oh yes. Detective Beckett.

You know it all started years ago, back when Roy Montgomery still occupied the captain's office. He was a good captain, Montgomery was. When I think about the new captain, and her habit of having everyone call her 'sir'...

Sorry, I'm doing it again.

I'd heard of Richard Castle before he showed up in the precinct. He was a novelist by trade, and a rather good one at that. There were times when Kate needed a break from the job and she'd pull a hardback from the bottom of my drawer. Whenever someone walked past, she'd flip it face down and stick a few random files on top of it, and that was when I got to enjoy a few minutes of reading. I never made it all the way through an entire book, but from what I did get to read, Rick was quite the writer. Well, except for _Hell Hath No Fury_. How did Rick put it... Oh right. It's plotline of "angry Wiccans out for blood" was a low point in his career. I can't help but agree.

So when Richard Castle himself waltzed into our lives, I was rather excited, although I will admit I was upset when I heard he was a person of interest in Kate's current case. Yes, famous people are just people, and they can commit a crime just as well as the next guy, but this was Richard Castle! I didn't want to think that the writer was capable of what they suspected him of doing.

He was cleared after they brought him in for questioning, and if I could have, I would have danced a little celebratory jig right where I sat. And then, imagine my excitement when I found out he was going to be helping with the case! It did make sense. After all, if he was the one whose books were being copied, he was the best person to assist with catching the murderer.

He was a bit different than I had imagined him, I'll give you that. Oh sure, I knew what he looked like, and I'd heard Kate telling the other two members of her team that he was just a pompous womanizer who happened to know how to write. Her description was a good one, but I soon found that Rick had a tendency to grow on you, and although I hoped they would catch the murderer before anyone else died, I began dreading the end of the case.

Sure enough, once that case came to a close, I found myself in a melancholy mood. I had grown fond of Rick and, even though she would never admit it, I knew Kate had as well, be it ever so slightly. When you get to know someone as well as I know Kate, you get to know their habits and mannerisms, and Kate was definitely intrigued with this new guy, even if only just a little.

And then imagine my surprise and excitement when I found out Rick had decided to write a new series based on us! I may have been the only one who was actually looking forward to his following Kate around. But hey, after all, he was going to write a book and base the main character on her! (Although I do agree that he could have picked a name that sounded a little less like a stripper's, but that's Rick for you.)

The guy is actually a decent detective. I suppose that comes from all the novels he's written over the years, and he tends to come up with some of the wildest theories I've heard, but a lot of the time, he ends up being right. Like that first case he helped solve. We were all content with thinking it was a mentally ill client of one of the victims, a social worker. Rick thought that conclusion was too boring. I'm pretty sure I can blame it on his novelist brain. He did convince Kate to investigate a little further, and it turned out he was right.

Rick's experience as a mystery writer has certainly brought a level of amusement to the precinct that I hadn't seen before he arrived. And his crazy theories have even proven to be right sometimes. His experience as a writer has also helped him notice minor details that the others overlook - not that Kate wouldn't have found them eventually herself.

...But there I go. Getting too in depth with past details that have little to do with my actual story. I like details; I think they help show all the ins and outs of a person, a relationship, anything really.

Kate and Rick have certainly had their ups and downs. It wasn't very long after they started working together that Rick found out some new details into Kate's mother's murder. That ended their partnership for a while, although he finally apologized and things got back to how they were.

Johanna Beckett... That's a name I rarely hear mentioned aloud, but I know it's important. Kate has spent years searching the files, trying to solve that case. That's why she became a cop in the first place. I see her working over the files sometimes, and every time I do, I can't help wishing I had the answers so she can get on with her life.

But back to why I'm getting so nostalgic in the first place.

It was a case just like any other when it started out. A man had been found murdered and Kate and her team were investigating. Then the case took a turn and ended up being associated with Johanna's murder.

I was not privy to much of the investigation, as I was to many of the other cases Kate worked, but between what I did see and conversations I overheard between passersby, I know most of the details.

There is so much that, if it were known, would resolve the anger and disappointment running through this team right now. But instead, everyone is at odds and I'm left holding what pieces I have and hoping that things will be back to normal soon enough - even though I know that can never be.

I remember when Kate came in and announced to the other two that Rick was off the case. I couldn't believe it. After all they had been through together, it was hard to grasp that he was not helping anymore. The way she said it, though, was full of finality. She offered no further details, and since neither Kevin nor Javier asked for an explanation, I didn't get to hear one.

He had most likely pushed her to quit the case, I assume. I know he didn't like how personal it was getting, and I know he cares for her more than as just a partner. And I also know that Kate doesn't take well to people telling her what to do, especially when they're telling her to leave something deeply personal alone.

Tensions are running high in other areas as well. The two detectives who work with Kate and Castle are Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan. The two are completely different, but also the same in many ways. That's what makes them such good partners. And I have to say, I've enjoyed hearing their banter throughout the long days and nights of solving cases.

But at the moment, I don't know if that will ever happen again.

If you know their personalities, the team's reactions to what went down all make perfect sense. At face value, you'd just think they all need to get over it and deal with things, but there are deeper reasons to what they did and said, though I'm not sure they even all realize that.

Javier is a fiercely loyal individual. He's dedicated to his team and to his leader, whomever that may happen to be. When he was in the service, I'm sure he was just as loyal to his unit and commanding officers as he is to his teammates here at the precinct. I've seen it throughout the years, as he's stood by the others, done what needed to be done to help them make decisions and been there for them throughout everything. And I'm sure that he would follow Kate to the ends of the earth and beyond, if for no other reason than that he felt he needed to have her back through everything she might come across.

When she decided to keep pursuing the case that had taken such a personal turn and not tell Captain Gates, I'm sure he was right there beside her. The actual conversation took place away from me, so I can't tell you exactly what they said, but I'm nearly positive that if either of the other two voiced any doubts or tried to reason that they should back off and tell Gates, that Javier shut them down instantly. That's just how he is.

I was there when he came out of the Captain's office and stalked over to his desk to retrieve his belongings. Kevin was waiting at his desk, and he tried to get his partner to understand why he had taken everything to Gates, but Javier was having none of it. He didn't even glance Kevin's way as he gathered up his things and left.

Not even Kevin's plea of, "Javi, I had to," could change his mind, though it nearly broke my heart.

Kevin was only doing what he felt he had to do to protect his team, as the others had. He is a family man through and through, not only with his actual family, but with those he considers family. He's very much by-the-book, and when the protocol is to get back-up and alert the right authorities, Kevin would be the one to do it.

I was there when Kate and Javier left to pursue the suspect, who, it turned out, was the sniper who had shot her all those months back.

...I remember when I found out that she had been shot. No one actually told me anything, they never do, but I heard bits and pieces of the story as it was discussed in quick, hushed tones around the precinct. I never got the whole story, but when you're in my position, you get very good at filling in gaps in stories. I worried like crazy the whole day and night until someone finally dropped the news nearby that she would pull through.

It was a long, long wait for me until she came back and got back into crime-fighting... But I'm sure you don't care about that. And this story is about the others, so I'll get back to them, if you'll pardon my digression.

Kevin was torn over what to do, I could tell. On the one hand, he wanted to do as the others had asked and just wait until they came back, but he was also worried about them. And he had good reason to. So much could happen, and they were headed into a potentially dangerous situation with no backup.

His desire both to protect them and to do things like they were supposed to be done won over eventually, as I knew they would when the decision was left up to him. It just wasn't in his nature to do anything differently.

What the others didn't know was that he did try to keep it within the team. Kate and Javier only knew that Kevin went to Gates and told her about what was going on. They didn't know that he had dialed Rick's number first. He had sat at his desk, tapping his fingers on his desktop impatiently as he waited for an answer.

The writer apparently didn't answer, and I could tell Kevin was trying to decide if he should call him again or not. His finger hovered over the phone for a moment before he breathed a heavy sigh and stood from the desk. He made his way to Gates' office, hesitated outside it for a moment, then took a breath and knocked on the door.

I don't know what went on inside that office, but I know Gates did not look happy when they came out. I don't blame her, honestly. Kevin didn't look happy either, which was just as understandable, only he looked sad and forlorn while she just looked mad. Well, madder than usual.

But like I said, who can blame her? She had just learned that three of her detectives were concealing important case details from her, their captain.

You couldn't fault Kevin either. He'd done all he could to abide by his team's wishes, but he had their backs more than they realized.

As for Kate... Kate has always been motivated by her mom's case. That's what made her become an officer and that's what kept her going day after day. It's what drove her to create airtight cases so no criminal would ever get off the hook, and it's what kept her going even after a bullet nearly took her life. She threw herself into everything, and this most recent case was no different. It's why she concealed the case from Gates; she wanted to see it through. And this was the guy who'd shot her and who was also connected with her mom's murder. There was no way she was going to just let Gates take her off the case.

But from what I hear, she had a moment of truth when she was hanging off the side of a building. I have a feeling that she finally came face to face with the fact that there were more important things in life than constantly chasing shadows. Even if those shadows were becoming more solid recently, there was still so much she could chase down that it could take the rest of her life, while she had a life waiting to actually be lived. If I had to guess, I'd say it had something to do with Rick.

Rick had his own reasons as well, ones that made me even more fond of him, if that's possible. I think if I were able to, and if Kate hadn't already claimed his heart, I would probably have pursued him myself. He did everything he did out of his love and care for her. When I heard whispered rumors that he had known about the people who were after Kate, and that he had kept it from her to keep her safe, it didn't surprise me. I knew he would climb the tallest mountain for her, and that he would do whatever it took to keep her safe.

I can only hope that those two found each other in the aftermath of the case. When Javier and Kate left Gates' office, there was a marked difference between them. Javier was upset, that much was obvious, both in his expression and in the way he stormed past me. Kate was more collected, and she almost looked content.

She packed up her belongings then, without a word to anyone. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I assumed that she and Javier had both been suspended. It made perfect sense that Gates would have done so. I just assumed Kate wanted to take her things with her.

It did confuse me, though. She cleaned everything out; her personal papers, her pictures and other small items... Everything. And then she left.

I heard whispers within a few minutes that she had quit. News travels fast in the department. I didn't want to believe it, but soon I began to realize it must be true and the reality of it began to sink in.

Kevin left soon after the others; I assume he needed to work through his own thoughts. I certainly had my own to manage.

Although it isn't like I haven't had time. It's been over a day now, and I haven't seen any of the team yet, not even coming back through just to go into Gates' office. The quiet rumors haven't stopped circulating; no one seems to have the whole story and no one is quite sure what is going on.

If anyone thought to ask me, I'm sure I could shed at least a little light on the situation. No one ever seems to think to ask a desk, though, so I have to content myself with waiting and hoping Kate will return eventually.

Until then, there's not much else I can do.


End file.
